Page grouping for site traffic analysis reports

ABSTRACT

Website administrators can specify page groups and/or single pages as checkpoint nodes for site analysis reporting purposes, and can configure the system of the invention to provide information as to a particular visitation path through the checkpoints. Any group of pages can be designed as a single checkpoint node for website traffic analysis and reporting purposes. Page groups can be used in place of or in addition to individual web pages in any context where site traffic analysis is being presented or performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application claims priority as a divisional of U.S.Utility patent application Ser. No. 12/022,779, filed Jan. 30, 2008, for“Site Analysis Report”, which is incorporated herein by reference andwhich claimed priority:

-   -   from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/887,468,        filed Jan. 31, 2007, for “Site Analysis Report”, which is        incorporated herein by reference;    -   and as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utility patent application        Ser. No. 10/609,008, filed Jun. 27, 2003, for “Capturing and        Presenting Site Visitation Path Data”, which is incorporated        herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to website traffic analysis reports,and more particularly to techniques for grouping pages in such reports.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART

Website providers often wish to collect data that describes usage andvisitation patterns for their websites and for individual web pageswithin the sites. Such information can be extremely valuable indeveloping usage statistics for various purposes, including for exampleestimating server load, determining advertising rates, identifying areasof websites that are in need of redesign, and the like.

When surfing the Web using a browser such as Internet Explorer(available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.), users have theability to move from one page to another by various means, such as:clicking on links within pages; typing in Uniform Resource Locators(URLs); clicking on dedicated buttons in the browser (such as Back,Forward, and Home); or selecting from a list of favorites. In addition,users can open and close new browser windows at will. As users of webbrowsers have grown more sophisticated over the years, they have becomeincreasingly adept at such navigation. Furthermore, as connection speedshave increased, users have become less hesitant to click on links atwill, and then back up if the information presented by the link is notof interest or is of merely momentary interest.

As a result, users often take a somewhat wandering approach throughpages of a website, including side trips and tangents. The usereventually reaches the end of a theoretically linear path of pages, butmay have visited some tangential pages along the way. Such tangentialpages may be part of the same web domain as the linear path, or they maybe external to that domain.

For example, in performing a somewhat linear task such as purchasing anitem from an online retailer, there are a series of steps that aregenerally represented by web pages: searching for the desired item;selecting the item by putting it in a shopping cart; activating acheckout function; providing shipping and billing information; andindicating final approval. However, along the way, the user may visitsome tangential pages. For example, he or she may check the shippingcosts on item; or he or she may check the price of the item at acompetitor's page; or he or she may, for whatever reason, check theweather forecast. The linear path of pages is eventually visited, in adiscernable sequence; these tangential pages are merely momentarydistractions along the way.

In many contexts, website administrators are interested in analyzing thesite visitation paths of users of their websites. Visitation to thetangential pages may be of little or no interest to such administrators;alternatively, administrators may be interested in certain tangents butnot others.

Furthermore, it is often the case that several web pages are similar toone another in form, function, and/or content, so that a websiteadministrator would be interested in treating such web pages as part ofa group for the purposes of website traffic analysis reports. Thus, forsuch purposes, it would be beneficial to have a mechanism that allows awebsite administrator to specify that a visit to any one of the pages insuch a group should be treated as equivalent to a visit to any otherpage in the group.

What is needed, therefore, is a system that allows websiteadministrators to specify page groups for site analysis reportingpurposes. What is further needed is a system that allows websiteadministrators to edit, delete, and manage previously specified pagegroups. What is further needed is a system that generates site trafficanalysis reports wherein at least one node represents a group of pagesrather than a single page.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention allows website administrators to specify pagegroups for site analysis reporting purposes. Website administrators areable to specify single pages and/or page groups as checkpoint nodes, andcan configure the system of the invention to provide information as to aparticular visitation path through the checkpoints. The system thenpresents usage statistics for the specified visitation path. Accordingto the techniques of the present invention, the system is able torecognize a visitation path among checkpoints, regardless of whether theuser visits other nodes in the course of the checkpoint traversal. Thus,even if a user takes “side trips” through other web pages that are notdesignated as checkpoints, the present invention is able to providemeaningful site path analysis with respect to those nodes that aredesignated as checkpoints. Thus, the present invention can be used tospecify any group of pages as a single checkpoint node for websitetraffic analysis and reporting purposes.

Page groups can be used in place of or in addition to individual webpages in any context where site traffic analysis is being presented orperformed. Website administrators can specify any number of page groups,and can manage such page groups as needed or desired. Thus, websiteadministrators can name page groups, add or delete pages from them, andconfigure the manner in which page groups are displayed in site analysisreports.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a system for website traffic datacollection.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting a method of specifying a group of pagesfor a website traffic analysis system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a user interface for presenting a fall-out report for awebsite traffic analysis system.

FIG. 4 depicts a user interface for presenting a fall-out report for awebsite traffic analysis system after a page has been added as acheckpoint node.

FIG. 5 depicts a user interface for specifying a page group for awebsite traffic analysis system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 depicts a user interface for editing information associated witha page group according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a user interface for presenting a fall-out report for awebsite traffic analysis system, including a page group as a checkpointnode, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 depicts a pop-up menu for accessing a screen for editinginformation associated with a previously created page group according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 depicts a user interface for presenting a site analysis reportfor a website traffic analysis system, including a page group as a node,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The Figures depict a preferred embodiment of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and accompanying figures are merelyillustrative of the techniques of the invention. One skilled in the artwill recognize that the techniques of the invention can be implementedin other ways and in other contexts wherein it is desirable to captureand analyze sequential relationships among nodes. In addition, theparticular layout and appearance of the screen shots and reportsprovided herein are intended to be exemplary.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an example of a system 100 forwebsite traffic data collection. User 112 interacts with client machine107, which runs a software application such as browser 110 for accessingand displaying web pages. In response to a user 112 command such asclicking on a link or typing in a URL, client machine 107 issues a webpage request 111 that is transmitted via the Internet to content server101. In response to request 111, content server 101 transmits HTML code102 to client machine 107. Browser 110 interprets received HTML code 102to display the requested web page on client machine 107.

Client machine 107 also transmits web page visitation trackinginformation 105 to a tracking server 106, which is typically a separateserver operated by a third-party website traffic statistic service.Tracking information 105 typically includes a user identifier, as wellinformation describing the pages visited and the dates and times of thevisits. Tracking information 105 can be transmitted from client 107 totracking server 106 according to well-known techniques. For example, onewell-known technique is to embed a pointer to a resource, known as a“web bug,” in HTML code 102. The resource is typically invisible to theuser, such as a transparent one-pixel image. The pointer directs machine107 to request the resource from tracking server 106. Tracking server106 records the request in a log 108, and records additional informationassociated with the request (such as the date and time, and possiblysome identifying information that may be encoded in the resourcerequest). Thus, tracking server 106 records the occurrence of a “hit” tothe web page. Tracking server 106 also transmits the requests one-pixelimage 109 to client machine 107 so that the resource request issatisfied.

Site path analysis module 113 retrieves stored tracking data from log108, filters the data, and outputs reports 114 to a web administrator115. Reports 114 may be provided in hard copy, or via a display screen(not shown), or by some other means. Administrator 115 can requestparticular types of reports, and can configure the filtering, analysis,and output operations via user interface 116, as will be described inmore detail below. Reports 114 include, for example, overviews andstatistical analyses describing the relative frequency with whichvarious site paths are being followed through the website. Examples ofsuch reports are described below.

Module 113 and user interface 116 may be implemented in software runningon server 106 or on another computer that can access log 108. In oneembodiment, the present invention is implemented primarily within module113 and user interface 116.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an example of a fall-out report300 for a website traffic analysis system. A fall-out report 300 isdesigned to show how website visitors tend to navigate through awebsite. Various checkpoints can be defined, as described in relatedU.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/609,008, filed Jun. 27,2003, for “Capturing and Presenting Site Visitation Path Data”, which isincorporated herein by reference. Fall-out report 300 provides a visualindication of the number of users that follow the specified path ofcheckpoints. As described in related U.S. Utility patent applicationSer. No. 10/609,008, additional pages may be visited along the path; ifthose pages are not designated as checkpoints, they are ignored forpurposes of the fall-out report 300.

In the example of FIG. 3, three checkpoints 301A, 301B, 301C have beendefined. Each checkpoint 301 corresponds to a web page within thewebsite that is being analyzed. For each checkpoint 301, the followinginformation is displayed:

-   -   a label 302;    -   a number of visits 303 that have followed the defined path up to        the current checkpoint 301;    -   of the total number of visits to the first checkpoint on the        path, a percentage 304 of visits that have remained on the path        up to and including the current checkpoint 301; and    -   a graphical indication 305 of the relative number of visits that        have remained on the path up to and including the current        checkpoint 301.

For each checkpoint 301 after the first checkpoint, the followinginformation is displayed:

-   -   of the total number of visits to the previous checkpoint node on        the path, a percentage 306 of visits that proceeded to the        current checkpoint 301;    -   of the total number of visits to the previous checkpoint node on        the path, a percentage 307 of visits that did not proceed to the        current checkpoint 301 (i.e., that were “lost”); and    -   of those visits that were lost, an indication 308 of where the        website visitor went after visiting the previous checkpoint node        on the path

Other information can also be shown in the fall-out report 300. Oneskilled in the art will recognize that the example shows a particularlayout for such a report, but that many other layouts are possible.

The report 300 of FIG. 3 shows information for a checkpoint pathincluding a home page 301A, an “Add product to cart” page 301B, and a“Buy process—Order confirmation” page 301C. If the website includesvarious category pages, each showing a product category, a siteadministrator may wish to see how visits to these category pages mayaffect site traversal statistics. Accordingly, the administrator maywish to add a category page to the checkpoint path of FIG. 3. Referringnow to FIG. 4, there is shown an example of fall-out report 300 afterthe administrator has added a “Category: Electronics” checkpoint 301Dbetween checkpoints 301A and 301B. FIG. 4 also shows a checkpointselector 401 interface that provides a list 402 of checkpoints that canbe dragged onto the desired location within report 300. Theadministrator can also type a search query in field 403 to filter thelist 402 of checkpoints. FIG. 4 also shows a list 404 of checkpointgroups, which will be described in more detail below.

In some cases, the administrator may be interested in the effect, onsite traversal statistics, of other pages similar to the “Category:Electronics” page. If desired, the administrator can add correspondingcheckpoints to fall-out report 300, and can see the effect of suchcheckpoints on report 300. For example, a “Category: Gaming” checkpoint(not shown) could be added just below or above the “Category:Electronics” checkpoint 301D, so that the report would show statisticsfor a traversal path including both the “Category: Electronics” page andthe “Category: Gaming” page in whatever order is specified.

The present invention also allows the administrator to generate a reportfor a traversal path that includes a visit to either the “Category:Gaming” page or the “Category: Electronics” page, without requiring avisit to both of these pages. To do so, the administrator creates a pagegroup. The page group includes both of the pages, and acts as a singlenode, or checkpoint, within the fall-out report. The administrator canthen create a target path including the checkpoint representing the pagegroup. A visit to any page in the group will satisfy the conditions forthe checkpoint, and will be considered a visit to the checkpoint forreporting purposes. The administrator can give the group a name, can addor remove pages from the group, and can perform other editing operationson the group, as shown below.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a flowchart depicting a methodfor specifying a group of pages for a website traffic analysis systemaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment,the steps of FIG. 2 are performed by site path analysis module 113 inthe process of generating site path reports 114. Module 113 receives 201input from administrator 115 or from another individual, specifying thattwo or more pages should be considered part of a group for purposes of asite path report 114. Additional information for the page group can bereceived 202, including a name for the group, search parameters, and thelike, as will be described in more detail below. Once the informationfor the page group has been provided, the site path report 114 isdisplayed 203. As shown in the examples discussed below, the report 114includes at least one node that represents a page group as specified bythe administrator in step 201. The report 114 displayed in step 203 canbe any type of website traffic analysis report, including for example afall-out report, a site analysis report, or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a user interface for specifyinga page group for a website traffic analysis system according to oneembodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, theadministrator specifies a page group by dragging a checkpoint 501 fromcheckpoint list 402. Checkpoint list 402 is shown in FIG. 5 as part ofcheckpoint selector 401. List 402 includes all available checkpoints, orit can be filtered by entering a search query in field 403. The userdrags the desired checkpoint 501 onto checkpoint 301B to create a groupincluding the checkpoint 501 being dragged and the checkpoint 301B atthe location where the user completes the dragging operation. Similarly,the administrator can add a page to an existing page group by dragging acheckpoint 501 from checkpoint list 402 onto an existing page group inreport 300.

In the example of FIG. 5, the administrator has dragged the “Category:Gaming” checkpoint 501 from list 402 onto “Category: Electronics”checkpoint 301B, thus initiating the process of creating a new pagegroup including both the “Category: Gaming” page and the “Category:Electronics” page.

In one embodiment, when a new page group is created, the administratoris given an opportunity to specify a name and additional information forthe page group. Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown a group editordialog box 600 that appears when a new page group is created, accordingto one embodiment. In other embodiments, dialog box 600 is not presentedautomatically upon creation of a new group, but may be activated by theadministrator when desired. Thus, the new group is given a default namethat can be edited later if desired. The administrator can also activatedialog box 600 by initiating a command, for example via an on-screenmenu or keyboard shortcut.

Group editor dialog box 600 includes a field 601 for entering a name forthe group; in the example of FIG. 6, the administrator has entered thename “Technical Category” for the newly created group. Dialog box 600also includes a list 602 of pages currently in the group. As shown inthe example of FIG. 6, list 602 includes the “Category: Electronics”page and the “Category: Gaming” page. List 603 includes available pagesthat can be added to the group. The administrator can enter a searchquery in field 604 to filter list 603. The administrator can select apage from list 603 and click on button 605 to add the selected page tothe group; the selected page is then added to list 602. Theadministrator can select a page from list 602 and click on button 606 toremove the selected page from the group; the selected page is thenremoved from list 602.

The administrator clicks OK button 607 to accept the changes to thegroup and dismiss dialog box 600. Alternatively, the administrator canclick Cancel button 608 to dismiss dialog box 600 without making thespecified changes to the group.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown fall-out report 300 after thepage group has been created. Now, the page group is shown as checkpointnode 701, with a special icon 702 indicating that it is a group ratherthan a single page. For purposes of report 300 as shown in FIG. 7, anyvisit to a page within the Technical Category group is consideredequivalent. For example, the statistic showing 34,398 visits for thepath including the Electronics Plus home page 301A and the TechnicalCategory group 701 includes those website visitors that visited any pagewithin the Technical Category group after visiting the Electronics Plushome page. The Technical Category group also appears as an item 703 ingroup list 404, allowing the user to access this group in the future,for example to drag it to a new report or to edit it.

The administrator can right-click on group 701 within report 300 toperform actions on group 701, for example to remove it from report 300or to edit the group. In one embodiment, a pop-up menu appears when theadministrator right-clicks on group 701 within report 300. Referring nowto FIG. 8, there is shown an example of a pop-up menu 800 for accessinga screen for editing information associated with a previously createdpage group according to one embodiment of the present invention. Theadministrator can select Remove 802 to remove group 701 from report 300.The administrator can select Edit 803 to access dialog box 600 as shownin FIG. 6 to perform other operations on group 701.

In one embodiment, visits to multiple pages within a page group areconsidered a single visit for statistical purposes. In anotherembodiment, each visit to a page within the group is counted separately.

The above examples show the operation of the present invention in thecontext of a fall-out report. However, one skilled in the art willrecognize that the page grouping techniques described herein can be usedfor any report where nodes or checkpoints representing web pages areshown. In application to such alternative contexts, the presentinvention allows any node within such a report to represent a single webpage or a page group that can be defined by an administrator. Referringnow to FIG. 9, there is shown an example of a site analysis report 900for a website traffic analysis system, including a page group 901 as anode, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Page group901 is shown along with other nodes 902 representing individual pages.The administrator can specify page groups 901 in the context of siteanalysis report 900 in a manner similar to that described above for thefall-out report 300, for example by dropping one node 902 onto anothernode 902 or onto a page group 901, and/or by right-clicking on a pagegroup 901 to access a group editor dialog box 600.

In the above description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofthe invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the artthat the invention can be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, structures and devices are shown in block diagram formin order to avoid obscuring the invention.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

Some portions of the detailed description are presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the discussion, it isappreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing termssuch as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or“displaying” or the like, refer to the action and processes of acomputer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic)quantities within the computer system's registers and memories intoother data similarly represented as physical quantities within thecomputer system's memories or registers or other such informationstorage, transmission or display devices.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type ofdisk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, andmagnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random accessmemories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any typeof media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupledto a computer system bus.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer, network of computers, or other apparatus.Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordancewith the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct amore specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. Therequired structure for a variety of these systems appears from thedescription. In addition, the present invention is not described withreference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciatedthat a variety of programming languages may be used to implement theteachings of the invention as described herein.

As will be understood by those familiar with the art, the invention maybe embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit oressential characteristics thereof. For example, the particulararchitectures depicted above are merely exemplary of one implementationof the present invention. The functional elements and method stepsdescribed above are provided as illustrative examples of one techniquefor implementing the invention; one skilled in the art will recognizethat many other implementations are possible without departing from thepresent invention as recited in the claims. Likewise, the particularcapitalization or naming of the modules, protocols, features,attributes, or any other aspect is not mandatory or significant, and themechanisms that implement the invention or its features may havedifferent names or formats. In addition, the present invention may beimplemented as a method, process, user interface, computer programproduct, system, apparatus, or any combination thereof. Accordingly, thedisclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, butnot limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in thefollowing claims.

1. A method for capturing and presenting node sequence data, the methodcomprising: providing a first user interface display area displaying atarget path comprising a sequence of checkpoint nodes in a definedorder, wherein each of the checkpoint nodes comprises at least onecheckpoint representing at least one network location such that thetarget path is indicative of a sequential traversal of networklocations; providing a second user interface display area displaying acheckpoint list comprising a plurality of user selectable checkpoints,wherein each of the checkpoints of the checkpoint list is associatedwith at least one network location, and wherein each of the checkpointsof the checkpoint list is selectable to generate a new checkpoint nodecomprising the selected checkpoint or to add the selected checkpoint toan existing checkpoint node of the target path, wherein the first userinterface display area and the second user interface display aresimultaneously displayed such that user may view the target path andcheckpoint list simultaneously; receiving a user input indicative of aselection of a checkpoint of the checkpoint list and a selection of anexisting checkpoint node of the target path to add the selectedcheckpoint to, wherein the checkpoint node selected already comprises atleast one checkpoint representing at least one network location; inresponse to receiving the user input: adding the checkpoint selected tothe checkpoint node selected such that checkpoint node selectedcomprises a group checkpoint node representing a group of networklocations; and displaying, in the first user interface display area, amodified target path comprising the group checkpoint node; retrieving,from a stored log, a plurality of records comprising node sequence data;filtering the retrieved records to identify a subset of the retrievedrecords as matching the modified target path, wherein filtering theretrieved records comprises, for each retrieved record: a) determiningwhether the retrieved record includes a sequence of nodes that matchesthe sequence of checkpoint nodes in the defined order of the modifiedtarget path, wherein a sequence of nodes that matches the sequence ofcheckpoint nodes comprises, for each checkpoint node of the modifiedtarget path, at least one node associated with one or more networklocations that match one or more network locations represented by therespective checkpoint node, wherein a node of the retrieved sequence ofnodes that matches the group checkpoint node comprises a networklocation that matches any of the network locations of the group ofnetwork locations represented by the group checkpoint node; b) if thedetermining step is resolved in the affirmative, identifying the recordas matching the modified target path; and c) if the determining step isresolved in the negative, not identifying the record as matching themodified target path; and outputting a report based on the recordsidentified as matching the modified target path.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the node sequence data comprises website visitation pathdata.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, prior to retrievingthe plurality of records: monitoring web page visits; and storing, inthe log, records representing the monitored web page visits.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein outputting the report comprises outputting areport indicating relative frequencies of occurrence of node sequences.5. A system for capturing and presenting node sequence data, the systemcomprising: a log, for storing a plurality of records comprising nodesequence data; a user interface for displaying: a first user interfacedisplay area displaying a target path comprising a sequence ofcheckpoint nodes in a defined order, wherein each of the checkpointnodes comprises at least one checkpoint representing at least onenetwork location such that the target path is indicative of a sequentialtraversal of network locations; and a second user interface display areadisplaying a checkpoint list comprising a plurality of user selectablecheckpoints, wherein each of the checkpoints of the checkpoint list isassociated with at least one network location, and wherein each of thecheckpoints of the checkpoint list is selectable to generate a newcheckpoint node comprising the selected checkpoint or to add theselected checkpoint to an existing checkpoint node of the target path,wherein the first user interface display area and the second userinterface display are simultaneously displayed such that user may viewthe target path and checkpoint list simultaneously; an input device, forreceiving user input indicative of a selection of a checkpoint of thecheckpoint list and a selection of an existing checkpoint node of thetarget path to add the selected checkpoint to, wherein the checkpointnode selected already comprises at least one checkpoint representing atleast one network location; wherein, in response to receiving the userinput: the checkpoint selected is added to the checkpoint node selectedsuch that checkpoint node selected comprises a group checkpoint noderepresenting a group of network locations; and a modified target pathcomprising the group checkpoint node is displayed, in the first userinterface display area; a path analysis module, coupled to the log andto the input device, for retrieving records from the log and forfiltering the retrieved records to identify a subset of the retrievedrecords as matching the modified target path, wherein filtering theretrieved records comprises for each retrieved record: a) determiningwhether the retrieved record includes a sequence of nodes that matchesthe sequence of checkpoint nodes in the defined order of the modifiedtarget path, wherein a sequence of nodes that matches the sequence ofcheckpoint nodes comprises, for each checkpoint node of the modifiedtarget path, at least one node associated with one or more networklocations that match one or more network locations represented by therespective checkpoint node, wherein a node of the retrieved sequence ofnodes that matches the group checkpoint node comprises a networklocation that matches any of the network locations of the group ofnetwork locations represented by the group checkpoint node; b) if thedetermining step is resolved in the affirmative, identifying the recordas matching; and c) if the determining step is resolved in the negative,not identifying the record as matching; and an output device, coupled tothe path analysis module, for outputting a report based on theidentified records.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the node sequencedata comprises website visitation path data.
 7. The system of claim 6,further comprising: a tracking server, coupled to the log, formonitoring web page visits and for transmitting a signal to the log tostore records representing the monitored web page visits.
 8. The systemof claim 5, wherein the output device outputs a report indicatingrelative frequencies of occurrence of node sequences.
 9. The method ofclaim 2, wherein outputting a report comprises generating a websitetraffic analysis report comprising at least one node representing a pagegroup, wherein each node representing a page group indicates aggregatevisitation statistics for the pages in the page group.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein generating a website traffic analysis report comprisesgenerating a report indicating a quantity of website visitors traversinga path from a first node to a second node, wherein at least one of thenodes comprises a page group.
 11. The method of claim 9, whereingenerating a website traffic analysis report comprises generating areport indicating a quantity of website visitors traversing a path froma page belonging to a page group represented by a first node to a pagebelonging to a page group represented by a second node.
 12. The methodof claim 9, further comprising: receiving input specifying a name for apage group; and wherein generating the website traffic analysis reportcomprises generating a report identifying the page group by thespecified name.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving user inputindicative of a selection of a checkpoint of the checkpoint list and aselection of an existing checkpoint node of the target path to add theselected checkpoint comprises receiving input dragging a representationof a first page of the checkpoint list onto a representation of a secondpage of the existing checkpoint to specify a page group of the groupchecking point node comprising the first and second pages.
 14. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the generated website traffic analysis reportcomprises at least one node representing a single page.
 15. The systemof claim 6, wherein the output device outputs a website traffic analysisreport comprising at least one node representing a page group, whereineach node representing a page group indicates aggregate visitationstatistics for the pages in the page group.
 16. The system of claim 15,wherein the report indicates a quantity of website visitors traversing apath from a first node to a second node, wherein at least one of thenodes comprises a page group.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein thereport indicates a quantity of website visitors traversing a path from apage belonging to a page group represented by a first node to a pagebelonging to a page group represented by a second node.
 18. The systemof claim 15, wherein the generated website traffic analysis reportcomprises at least one node representing a single page.
 19. A computerprogram product for capturing and presenting node sequence data, thecomputer program product comprising: a computer-readable storage medium;and computer program code, encoded on the medium, for: displaying: afirst user interface display area displaying a target path comprising asequence of checkpoint nodes in a defined order, wherein each of thecheckpoint nodes comprises at least one checkpoint representing at leastone network location such that the target path is indicative of asequential traversal of network locations; and a second user interfacedisplay area displaying a checkpoint list comprising a plurality of userselectable checkpoints, wherein each of the checkpoints of thecheckpoint list is associated with at least one network location, andwherein each of the checkpoints of the checkpoint list is selectable togenerate a new checkpoint node comprising the selected checkpoint or toadd the selected checkpoint to an existing checkpoint node of the targetpath, wherein the first user interface display area and the second userinterface display are simultaneously displayed such that user may viewthe target path and checkpoint list simultaneously; receiving user inputindicative of a selection of a checkpoint of the checkpoint list and aselection of an existing checkpoint node of the target path to add theselected checkpoint to, wherein the checkpoint node selected alreadycomprises at least one checkpoint representing at least one networklocation; wherein, in response to receiving the user input: thecheckpoint selected is added to the checkpoint node selected such thatcheckpoint node selected comprises a group checkpoint node representinga group of network locations; and a modified target path comprising thegroup checkpoint node is displayed, in the first user interface displayarea; retrieving, from a stored log, a plurality of records comprisingnode sequence data; filtering the retrieved records to identify a subsetof the retrieved records as matching the modified target path; whereinfiltering the retrieved records comprises, for each retrieved record: a)determining whether the retrieved record includes a sequence of nodesthat matches the sequence of checkpoint nodes in the defined order ofthe modified target path, wherein a sequence of nodes that matches thesequence of checkpoint nodes comprises, for each checkpoint node of themodified target path, at least one node associated with one or morenetwork locations that match one or more network locations representedby the respective checkpoint node, wherein a node of the retrievedsequence of nodes that matches the group checkpoint node comprises anetwork location that matches any of the network locations of the groupof network locations represented by the group checkpoint node; b) if thedetermining step is resolved in the affirmative, identifying the recordas matching the modified target path; and c) if the determining step isresolved in the negative, not identifying the record as matching themodified target path; and outputting a report based on the recordsidentified as matching the modified target path
 20. The computer programproduct of claim 19, wherein the computer program code for outputtingthe report comprises computer program code for outputting a reportindicating relative frequencies of occurrence of node sequences.
 21. Thecomputer program product of claim 19, wherein the node sequence datacomprises website visitation path data.
 22. The computer program productof claim 21, further comprising, computer program code for, prior toretrieving the plurality of records: monitoring web page visits; andstoring, in the log, records representing the monitored web page visits.23. The computer program product of claim 21, wherein the computerprogram code for outputting a report comprises computer program code forgenerating a website traffic analysis report comprising at least onenode representing a page group, wherein each node representing a pagegroup indicates aggregate visitation statistics for the pages in thepage group.
 24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein thecomputer program code for generating a website traffic analysis reportcomprises computer program code for generating a report indicating aquantity of website visitors traversing a path from a first node to asecond node, wherein at least one of the nodes comprises a page group.25. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein receiving userinput indicative of a selection of a checkpoint of the checkpoint listand a selection of an existing checkpoint node of the target path to addthe selected checkpoint to comprises receiving input dragging arepresentation of a first page of the checkpoint list onto arepresentation of a second page of the existing checkpoint to specify apage group of the group checking point node comprising the first andsecond pages.
 26. The system of claim 5, wherein receiving user inputindicative of a selection of a checkpoint of the checkpoint list and aselection of an existing checkpoint node of the target path to add theselected checkpoint to comprises receiving input dragging arepresentation of a first page of the checkpoint list onto arepresentation of a second page of the existing checkpoint to specify apage group of the group checking point node comprising the first andsecond pages.